From Ghana, one of Nigeria’s neighbours, came a very instructive question over the moral grounds on which leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would stand to order a military intervention to restore democracy in Niger Republic, with the legitimate crises trailing President Bola Tinubu, its leader.
The declaration of the former Governor of Lagos State, who contested the February 25 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is currently facing an intense challenge from Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi, of the Labour Party (LP), at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
Questioning the haste with which the Authority of the ECOWAS Heads of Government, elevated him to lead them, Kwesi Pratt jnr, General Secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana, one of its main opposition parties, said the move alone underscored the hypocrisy of the leaders, who themselves, had failed to demonstrate any iota of democratic credentials.
Hear him: “One of the things which they have done that is completely crazy, was Tinubu, who had won a disputed election. The matter is in court and has not finished, West African leaders met and made him their chairman. And they say they’re committed to democracy? These crazy leaders we have in West Africa. They’re not even patient enough to wait for the outcome of the petition before the court, but went ahead to make him their chairman and then, they turn round and tell us that they love democracy. What kind of democracy do they love?”
Further lampooning them over their decision after a meeting in Abuja last Sunday, to make military intervention one of the options in their list of actions to force the military junta now in place in the country to return power to the ousted President, Mohamed Bazoum, he described their hasty action as coming from threats that they might be the next, due to their poor leadership that had impoverished their people.
His words: “These leaders who are threatening to stage military intervention are responsible for what is happening. They’re talking about going to restore democracy in Niger, was there democracy before in Niger? Was there anything that looked like democracy in Niger before the coup? These are frightened leaders – leaders who have failed in their countries, who are afraid that what has happened would engulf them and are trying to smother the flames. And they’ll not succeed. They’re only trying to create more problems for the region.
“Now, are they not the same leaders who went to Cote D’Ivoire when the French forces overthrew Laurent Gbabo and installed Alhassan Watara to go and congratulate him? Where is their commitment to democracy? These West African leaders have been changing their constitution, allowing themselves to go for third terms in spite of the massive protests taking place. When they succeed in changing their constitutions and going for third term, is it not the same leaders that go to congratulate them? What’s their commitment to democracy?
The Ghanaian politician, argued that the main beneficiary of the proposed intervention would be the Western countries, that had continued to supervise the poor leadership of the ECOWAS leaders as they had done in the entire African continent, adding that in this case, France, which had remained the major leach sucking the country dry, would continue what they had done for decades – mine the uranium deposits in Niger, while not only pauperising the country but leaving the populace with diseases associated with their mining activities.
“One out of every light bulbs in France is powered by uranium from Niger. Yet, Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. But our leaders are not thinking about this paradox. What they care about is going to reinstall one of their colleagues, who messed up so much. All the French-speaking African states, keep their money in the French Central Bank. The consequence is that all these French-speaking African countries, borrow this money and pay interest for their own money. Yet, West African leaders are not sensible enough to realize that the way out of this is to have a common currency for West Africa to enable these French-speaking West African countries to break away from this neo-colonialism.
“They don’t even realize that that is the key to solving many of the problems that confront us in the sub-region. They can’t see that. We’ve been talking about West African currencies for how long? What have they done in other to promote that? Then, they go and sit down somewhere in Abuja and they decide to send soldiers. Whose soldier should go and die to install a useless President?”